Low Expectations
by lala12x
Summary: Sequel to High Expectations. Days after Lillys death Kyoraku recieves a letter which she wrote to him before she died which she has asked him for a few favours. Can he fulfill her wishes? And how is Mayuri coping? Not as much sex/violence as the first one
1. Chapter 1

_This weather really isn't suitable for today. The sun's shining ever so brightly, not a single cloud in the clear blue sky. It would've been perfect weather for those going to the beach and having ice cream, not for a funeral for a loved one. I'm not one for crying but my eyes are stinging slightly, how does Mayuri keep such an emotionless face, even Byakuya is showing some sympathy._

It's been two days since the death of Lilly, today is her funeral. All the captains, lieutenants and Lilly's close friends have gathered today to say their final good-byes, all holding a single white lily flower. All the lieutenants standing by their captains sides, all looking down at the fresh, brown ground which has just been filled and the round, grey, cold, hard head stone with Lilly Hayter's name upon it. It was completely silent, not like most funerals where a vicar would do their religious speech or a family member talking about their deceased loved ones life. It was traditional in the soul society to have a funeral in complete silence. It was utterly quiet, the only sounds were the birds singing and some girls sniffing, trying not to cry. Kyoraku wanted to say his good-byes out loud so he waited for everyone to silently say their good-byes and then leave. In the meantime he kept staring at Mayuri, wondering why he showed no emotion. His face was neutral, his eyes are open and his mouth was almost as straight as a ruler, he kept looking around all around him, first looking at the ground then the sky then some trees and then people on the opposite side to him, he wasn't really focusing on Lilly's grave. He didn't show any signs of tiredness or emotion, it was strange as he was the one who truly loved her and yet he honestly showed the least amount of sadness. Rukia was holding on to Renji and he wrapped his arm around her, Byakuya standing next to his lieutenant ignoring what Renji and his adopted sister were doing. Yoruichi was hugging Soi Fon from behind, her arms wrapped around her waist and Soi Fon's hands on Yoruichi's arms. Momo buried her face in Hitsugayas chest whilst he stroked her hair. Even Nanao was leaning on her captains' arm, her face red and eyes watering. Yachiru was hiding her face in Kenpachi's shoulder.

_Strange how the death of someone can bring everyone so close together. Even my sweet Nanao is scared to be alone... It sounds awful but I hope everyone leaves soon; I would like to say good-bye to Lilly and Sophie again._

At that point Ukitake took a step closer to the brown dirt and gently placed his single lily on the ground; he turned and slowly walked away, leaving. Kenpachi stood forward and dropped the flower on the ground, he shook his shoulder to get Yachiru to drop the flower, and she looked up. Her eyes were red and full of tears, her cheeks wet from crying and her nose was running with snot. She shook her head.

"C'mon... Drop the flower and say good-bye." Kenpachi loudly whispered.

"N-no! I-I-I don't wanna let go off Lilly." She cried, sniffing up her snot.

Ikkaku and Yumichika stood forward and gently placed down their lily, they both walked off out of the way of everyone but waited around for their captain.

"L-Lilly was m-m-m-mm-my friend!" She sniffed.

"She was everyone's friend... You can keep the flower then." Kenpachi whispered, trying to be quieter.

She shakes her head and drops the flower from his shoulder; he strokes her hair with his other hand and walks off, leaving complete silence again. After about ten minutes almost everyone has left after placing their lily on the ground, the only people left was Unohana, Isane, Mayuri, Nemu, Nanao and Kyoraku. Unohana whispered something to Isane; no one else could hear what she said. Isane nodded and placed her flower down and left. Unohana then placed her flower down and walked to Kyoraku, she stood on his left side as Nanao was holding onto his right arm. Unohana reached into her pocket and pulled out an envelope.

"Lilly left this for you..." She said, softly. Giving him the envelope.

He looked at the envelope to see his name on the front of it, which was surprisingly written out very neatly, it, was a small, white plain envelope. Nanao stood up properly and wiped her eyes, looking at the envelope. Mayuri looked up and darted his eyes at Kyoraku.

"What is it?" Kyoraku asked, softly.

"She wrote this before she passed away. She told me to give this to you at her funeral..." Unohana replied.

Mayuri walked around the grave dropping the flower, whilst Nemu followed, he snatched the letter from Kyoraku. He read the name on the front.

"There must be some mistake! Why would she leave YOU a letter and not me?" He sneered.

Kyoraku snatched his letter back and put it in his pocket; Mayuri gave him a cold look then turned to face Unohana.

"So why does he get one instead of me!" He hissed.

"Although I have not read the letter myself, my guess is that she is saying good-bye to captain Kyoraku. If I recall her last moments were with you but she wished for me to give him this letter. I'm just fulfilling Lilly's wishes." Unohana replied, calmly.

Mayuri tuts rolls his eyes and walks back in front of Lilly's grave and crosses his arms looking at the headstone. Nemu stays a few feet away from Mayuri in complete silence.

"Captain Kyoraku. Once you are done would you come to my squad and send word for me that you've arrived... I wish to speak to you." Unohana asked, softly.

"Of course, I won't be too long." He replied.

Unohana then nodded and left. Kyoraku pulled the envelope out of his pocket and opened it.

"You going to open it now?" Nanao asked.

"Well why not?" He replied.

"But captain! She did that especially for you moments before she passed away and you're just going to read it here?" She shouted.

She was getting frustrated and Mayuri turned his head round at Nemu, giving her a cold look.

"Nemu! Stop being so useless and go tell them to get lost!" Mayuri shouted.

"Yes sir..." She replied.

She began walking towards Nanao and Kyoraku.

"We heard you Kurotsuchi..." Nanao sighed.

Nemu stopped dead in her tracks, waiting for further instructions from her master.

"So you don't want to know what this letter says?" Kyoraku said.

Mayuri darted his eyes at Kyoraku who was quickly reading the letter. Kyoraku finished reading it and looked at Mayuri staring at him; Mayuri quickly turned his head round acting like he didn't care.

_Oh he definitely wants to know what this letter says, he's just acting hard. Strange her handwriting is a lot messier like I expected at first, maybe Retsu wrote my name on the envelope._

"Well I'm going to read it out loud anyway, so if you don't wanna hear it covers your ears!" He shouted. "Not that you have any..." He said, under his breath.

"Dear Kyoraku, this isn't how I wanted to say bye to you but we can't do anything about that now can we? I'm not going to write down a bunch of sad stuff or talk about our happy times, although we did have a good laugh getting drunk and hiding from Nanao..."

Nanao crossed her arms and huffed. Mayuri couldn't help but listen to what Kyoraku was reading out. Kyoraku continued.

"I'm not sure if you know but me and Mayuri were planning on going to the 'Golden Palace' to celebrate my birthday. Of course that's not going to happen so I would like to make a request. Would you take Nanao there in place of me and Mayuri, I want you both to enjoy yourselves like how me and Mayuri would've..."

"She wants me to go on a date with you!" Nanao gasped.

"Yeah... Looks it..." Kyoraku replied, softly.

"Well that's out of the question!"

"Is that all the letter says? Tsk, she wasted her time... Nemu go back and sort the squad out! I'll be there in twenty minutes!" Mayuri shouted, interrupting them.

"Yes master..." Nemu replied.

She then bow down to her master, stood up and then left the three by themselves.

"Nanao... Would you please go back to our squad and sort everything out, I'll be back soon and I'll take you to the 'Golden Palace' tonight so-"

Nanao quickly interrupted Kyoraku.

"But captain! A date is-"

He quickly interrupted her.

"You're not going for me! We're going for Lilly! She wanted someone to enjoy the experience she was going to have and she wants us to go in her place, so will you please do as I say. Not as your captain but as a friend, will you go to the 'Golden Palace' with me tonight for the sake of Lilly!" Kyoraku slightly snapped.

He was getting frustrated and Nanao understood that this meant a lot to him.

"... Of course captain, I shall return to squad 8." Nanao replied, softly.

"I'll knock for you at your place at seven my sweet Nanao!" He grinned.

Nanao clenched her fist and gritted her teeth and then turned and left.

"That idiot! Making me feel bad for him then he grins like a madman!" She hissed under her breath.

_Pffttt I think I should talk to Mayuri, he doesn't look it but I know he's incredibly upset._

He walks up to Mayuri who's looking at the gravestone. He stands next to him looking at the gravestone then looks at the one next to it a few feet away. The name read Sophie Penn.

"I've always wondered... Why is Lilly's name spelt incorrectly?" Kyoraku asked.

"Who cares? She's dead and you're worried about her name being spelt wrong!" Mayuri snarled.

Kyoraku sighed, he realised that small talk wasn't going to help.

"...This is the second time I've said good-bye to her..." Kyoraku said, quietly.

"Tsk, if you're looking for sympathy... You're looking in the wrong place." Mayuri hissed.

"You can drop the act now." Kyoraku said, coldly.

"Huh?"

"Look I know exactly how you feel..." Kyoraku replied, sympathetically.

Mayuri turned around, grabbed his captains' coat and pulled him close to him; he looked at him directly in his eyes, filled with anger.

"You have NO IDEA HOW I FEEL!" Mayuri shouted.

"Actually... I do... I use to date Sophie..." Kyoraku replied, quietly.

Mayuri's eyes widen, he grits his teeth in anger. He pushes Kyoraku away and begins walking off.

"Fucking idiot... Can't even say good-bye to my fiancée without him trying to make ME feel bad!" Mayuri hissed out loud.

Kyoraku simply sighed, adjusted his clothes and stood in front of Lilly's grave.

"Typical... We get you back, just a couple of months later you end up leaving again..." Kyoraku quietly speaking to himself.

He looks at the letter and reads it again.

_Sheesh she's asked me to do quite a bit! I'll do mine and Nanao's date first and I'll do the other thing she wants me to do after. I better go see what Retsu wants..._


	2. Chapter 2

"Well have your finest bottle of red wine please." Kyoraku grinned.

"Certainly sir." Replied the smart waiter.

Kyoraku was on his 'date' with Nanao at the 'Golden Palace'. The place is incredibly smart, posh and is popular amongst the nobles. The carpet is a fine, red clean carpet, and the walls are very grand. White marble tiles on the wall with a glistening shine and golden lights hanging from the walls and ceiling. There is more than fifty small round tables around the room, all looking exactly the same with a rich white cotton fabric covering the table with a single rose in a beautiful vase in the middle of the table with some rich red candles around. As it's a high status restaurant Kyoraku wore his finest kimono, it was black like his standard uniform but had big, white detailed flowers all over. He accessorised his smart kimono with thin grey obi wrapped round his waist. Nanao put in a lot of effort as well and wore a long, light blue kimono that covered her ankles and is made of silk with small, delicate light pink flowers all over. She wore a matching light pink obi and a light pink hair clip. She also wore some make-up with light pink lips and cheeks and a small amount of dark eye shadow. She was also wearing mascara and a small amount of eyeliner, making her look quite seductive.

"A bottle? Oh captain... You're going to get incredibly drunk at this rate and we've only just ordered our meal!" She shouted.

"Not so loud. What would all the snobs say?" He grinned.

She blushed in embarrassment realising she was loud and a few people were looking at her. At that point the smartly dressed waiter came back with a bottle of red wine, pouring them both a drink and leaving the bottle on the table. He then walked off leaving the two.

"And stop calling me captain, were not working. And it'll take more than a bottle to get me drunk."

"Ok... Kyoraku... I don't approve of this date in fact I think it's ridiculous I mean... I dread to think how much the bill is going to cost! How can Kurotsuchi afford to go to a place like this?" Nanao asked, slightly frustrated.

"Well he obviously really cared for her. This is where he was going to propose to her three days ago, he wanted to make it special and well... This place certainly is special." Kyoraku said, having another look around at the grand place.

"He was going to propose to her!" Nanao shouted.

Everyone looked around at her, annoyed that she is disrupting their meal. She blushes with embarrassment.

"Nanao... You need to keep it down." Kyoraku smirked.

"WELL I-!"

"Shush!" He interrupted.

She realised she was being loud again, she sighed and took a sip of her drink.

"You look incredibly beautiful tonight." He said, picking up his glass.

"You've told me three times now..." She said, annoyed.

"That just proves how good looking you are!" He winked.

Usually at work she would've hit him with her book, but tonight she either just couldn't be bothered or was too embarrassed to make a scene. She just rolled her eyes and finished off her drink. Kyoraku poured her some more.

"What were you and Kurotsuchi talking about when I left? And what does the rest of that letter say? Furthermore what did Unohana want?" She persisted him.

"My sweet Nanao, you needn't worry about that." He grinned back.

Nanao tilted her head down looking at the table, she looked quite sad.

"What's wrong Nanao? Am I that boring?"

She looked up and had such sadness in her eyes.

"I'm sorry... It's just... That poor girl... She was so young and was expecting a child... So sweet and innocent. No one deserves to suffer like how she did..." Her eyes filling up with tears.

"Oh Nanao... She wouldn't want you to cry. She wants us to have a good time, she wouldn't be crying if she was here with Mayuri now would she...? Most other people would though." He smiled.

She couldn't help but have a little laugh, she smiled at Kyoraku.

"To Lilly." He said raising his glass.

"To Lilly." She replied.

She lifted up her glass and gently tapped his glass. After a few hours of eating, talking and laughing, they pay the bill (which Kyoraku was absolutely gob smacked at the price of it, but insisted he'd pay for all of it). He walks her back to her house; surprisingly he's not even tipsy after sharing three bottles of red wine. Nanao was slightly drunk, she can't really walk or talk properly so Kyoraku places his arm round her. Standing outside her house in the squad 8 barracks which looks very similar to squad 5, she searches her purse for her keys.

"Gosssssh where did... I put the lil' buggeeer?" She slurred.

"What's that in your hand?" Kyoraku asked.

She looked at her hand to see she was holding her keys, they both laugh and she surprisingly manages to unlock the door fine.

"Thanks for payinggg the billy-bob." She smiled.

"Thank you for a nice night, well good night Nanao." He smiled back.

He turned around and started walking away to leave, Nanao was left standing at her door watching her captain slowly walk away.

"What that's it!" Nanao shouted.

He stopped, turned around and raised his eyebrows. He was about ten feet away from her.

"No hug, no kiss, no crude jokes, no pressuring me into sleeping with you? NOTHING!" She shouted.

"I'm not going to pressure you into doing anything you don't want." He smiled slightly.

She huffed and walked towards him, standing just in front of him, she adjusted her glasses and he looked down at his lieutenant.

"I thought I knew you well... Obviously not..." She murmured.

"You're just slightly drunk; I'm not going to take advantage of you." He smiled cheesily.

"I'm not that drunk..." She whispered.

They looked at each others eyes; she stood on her tiptoes to get closer to her tall captain. He leaned down slightly to get closer to her, he leaned his face in towards her and she did the same. He gently pushed her hair out of her face and placed his warm hands on her cold, red cheeks. She closed her eyes, she could feel his lips touching hers, and his stubbly beard tickled her. He could taste her strawberry flavoured lip gloss on his lips. He gently slipped his tongue in her mouth and she massaged it with her tongue. Before they could really get into it she tripped up standing on her tiptoes, she fell forward but luckily he caught her and held her up in his arms. He couldn't help but laugh; she was embarrassed, stood up and hit him gently in his chest.

_I'm having de ja vu, I remember me catching Lilly as she tripped up kissing me, now Nanao's hitting me._

"Stop laughing... It's not funny!" She said, blushing.

She adjusted her glasses and began to turn to walk away.

"So I'm not going to get a good-night kiss?" Kyoraku asked.

"I think you have had more than a 'good-night kiss'!" She shouted, walking off.

He smiled and watched her storm into her home. He turned and walked towards his house.

_Ehh I'm expecting Nanao to be her normal self tomorrow and pretend our 'little' kiss never happened. I'm gonna keep a low expectation so my 'little old heart' won't be broken. I think I'll check on Mayuri tomorrow, and I'll do what Lilly and Retsu has asked me to do._

The next day, the time's just gone half eight and Kyoraku is on his way to squad 12.

_Just as I thought, Nanao was back to her old self and her excuse was; and I quote 'I had a bit too much drink last night which YOU forced down my throat, so excuse me for not being myself'. Ahhh that girl knows how to make me laugh. Now to go see Mayuri, I think this is where his office is... Been here enough times so I should know where everything is by now._

He arrives in squad 12 and goes into the main building, inside he can see Nemu carrying some paperwork flicking through the work. He casually walks to her, standing in front of her.

"Hey Nemu. You're looking very attractive today." He winked.

She looked exactly the same as she did everyday, nothing was different about her, and even her facial expression didn't change after hearing his compliment. She was obviously use to Kyoraku's behaviour.

"Is there something you need captain Kyoraku?" She asked, emotionless.

"Yes, where's Kurotsuchi? I wanna speak to him." He asked, seriously.

"My apologies but he's at home busy. He wants no one to interrupt him until he returns. I can only suggest you wait in his office for his return." She replied.

"Ok thanks, I'll go to his office. Back there right?" He said pointing behind him.

She nods. He says good-bye and leaves the main building. He walks the opposite way from the office and walks towards Mayuri's home.

_Sheesh I ain't waiting around. I wonder what on earth he's doing at home when he should be working still. This is his house here; I remember coming round with Lilly whilst running from Nanao. Mayuri wasn't impressed when he arrived home to see us two VERY drunk trying on his clothes and paint, I personally thought Lilly's moustache was quite funny, shame he doesn't share our sense of humour._

He opens the front door into the hall way, he remembers that the door on the right is Nemu's room and the one of the left is the living room. As he places his hand on the handle he notices the door is slightly open and he can hear a strange noise, he opens the door a bit more and peeps in slightly trying not to get caught. He can see the back of Mayuri sitting on the sofa with his arms on the back of the sofa with a glass of alcohol in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Kyoraku notices something moving quite quickly which looks like it's moving on Mayuri's lap, he then realises it's a brunette woman performing oral sex on him. Kyoraku is slightly embarrassed to witness it but before he could turn away he witnesses Mayuri putting his cigarette in his mouth and punching the woman in the face. She falls back on the floor, he stands up and takes his cigarette out and replaces it with his alcohol. He gulps down his drink and throws the glass at the woman, it breaks and it cuts her, he pulls up his trousers and adjusts his clothes, he goes to the fridge and takes out a bottle of alcohol. The woman whose face is covered in blood staggers to her feet and rushes to the exit.

"You're a sick monster! Wait till' I tell my boss what you just done!" She shouted.

He just sighed, took out a glass and poured himself a drink. The woman left bumping into Kyoraku; she huffed and quickly ran out the hallway. Kyoraku stood in the doorway with the door wide open and with his arms crossed. Mayuri sits down not realising Kyoraku is there, he takes his hat and scarf off and runs his fingers through his gelled hair, messing it up. He puts his cigarette in the ashtray on the floor and drinks his alcohol then places the empty glass on the floor. He places his elbows on his knees and puts his face in his hands.

"Well... That wasn't very nice..." Kyoraku said.

Mayuri didn't jump in shock; he just simply put his hands down and turned his head to face Kyoraku.

"She was a slut... She's use to it." Mayuri said, calmly.

"She was a prostitute weren't she...? Not the same as Lilly, so that's why you kicked her out I'm assuming?" Kyoraku asked.

He walked in and shut the door. He stood on the other side of the sofa and leaned his arms against it.

"Tsk... I'm sure you know full well that men have sexual urges..." Mayuri said, getting out a cigarette.

"Yeah but still... She's been dead for three days and already you-"

"SHUT UP!" Mayuri shouted, interrupting him.

Kyoraku quietened down, waiting for Mayuri to say something.

"Look... I just wanted... Lilly... I realised that whore wasn't her and so I simply kicked her out..." Mayuri said, quietly.

Kyoraku took a seat next to him, staying quiet in case Mayuri was going to say anything else. He doesn't say anything else so Kyoraku fills the silence.

"So a substitute? Never works believe me..." Kyoraku said, sympathetically.

"Hmm... Did you say...? You dated Sophie?" Mayuri asked.

"Yeah... We were good friends... Dated for over a year then split up weeks before she died..." Kyoraku said, softly.

"...What was she like?" Mayuri asked.

"Well, I'll tell you exactly what she was like..."


	3. Chapter 3

"Helloooooo ladies!" Kyoraku growled.

"AHHH! GO AWAY YOU PERVERT!" The girls screamed.

Kyoraku who has a much younger appearance was being his usual self, scaring off girls with his perviness. His hair although quite long for a man was quite short for him, his hair was dark, thick and wavy which came down just above his chin and had no facial hair. He was wearing the soul reapers academy uniform. He was outside standing behind trees scaring all the girls away; he could hear someone then clapping sarcastically. He looked round to see a girl with shoulder length wavy, dark brown hair, big brown eyes, tanned skin and was wearing some basic make-up; she was sitting by a tree with a book on her lap and her zanpakuto lying on the floor next to her.

"That was amazing! You're never going to get a girlfriend doing that!" She said, smiling.

He walked over to her and drooled slightly, he thought she was a very good looking girl AND she wasn't scared of him, she wasn't going to run anywhere which was a first.

"You're an attractive guy. But acting like that ain't going help ya'." She winked.

"You're a very attractive girl. But I can't find any flaws." He grinned.

He sat next to her, the only flaw he noticed from the near perfect girl was the lack of chest she had. The uniform wasn't generous for girls but she still didn't have much there, but her face certainly made up for it.

"So c'mon, what's ya name?" She smiled.

"Kyoraku... Shunsui Kyoraku, second class."

"Penn... Sophie Penn, first class. HA I'm better than you!" She grinned.

"Tsk... This is my fourth year though." He tutted, still smiling though.

"This is my first ha-ha." She laughed.

_If I'm being honest, I was only slacking and too busy chasing the girls back then and I didn't really pay that much attention in class thus making me in second class when I could've quite easily been in first._

Two years later Kyoraku, Ukitake, Unohana and Urahara passed their graduation exam, they go to meet their good friend Sophie outside her classroom to let her know that they all passed. Ukitake has short white hair in a high ponytail; Unohana has shoulder length, dark hair, tied back but in a low ponytail whilst Urahara's hair was really thick and messy covering his eyes, just like it is now. Kyoraku's hair is the same as it was two years before.

"Ahhh man. I can't believe I passed on my first go!" Ukitake said, excitedly.

"You guys are lucky... This was my second attempt!" Urahara replied.

"Well at least you passed that's all that matters." Unohana replied, softly.

"GUYYYYSSSS! GUESS WHAT!" Someone shouted.

They look around to see Sophie running towards them.

"Hey, why ain't you in class?" Kyoraku asked.

"I passed! I PASSED!" She shouted.

"Passed what? Kido class?" Ukitake asked.

"No! I passed the graduation exam!" She said, clapping with excitement.

"What! But this is your third year!" Ukitake gasped.

"I know! They said I was excelling in everything and thought I should go for the exam and I passed! I can be an official soul reaper now!" She smiled.

"That's great Sophie!" Kyoraku smiled.

He couldn't help but pick her up and hug her, after a few seconds he quickly put her down, realising that everyone was staring at them.

"So why are you guys waiting for me outside my old classroom? We usually meet at the pub." She asked.

"We came to tell you that we passed our exams." Unohana smiled.

"REALLY! THAT'S SO COOL!" She shouted in excitement.

_She wasn't always this happy, well most of the time she was. She had a bit of a temper and when you annoy her she certainly does let you know she's angry. She was like no other girl I knew. She was polite like Retsu, friendly like most girls, very energetic and bubbly, but she was also feisty. She wouldn't take any crap from anyone, not even Yamamoto, she knew she had a free will and she wasn't upset when I would flirt with the other girls, even when we were dating, she knew that guys can't help but be attracted to other girls but she knew I wouldn't cheat on her. Ten years after we graduated, of course back then there wasn't squads it was just one big squad but the captain had an announcement, so he'd send out letters to everyone. The letter said that he was going to have some squads and each squad would specialize in something and that each squad would have a captain and a lieutenant. Over the next few months he would see who was good enough to get one of those positions. Sophie was offered the job as captain of squad 5 but she turned it down. She wanted to dedicate her time to helping those in the rukon district and in the world of the living. Me, Ukitake and Unohana were offered the job as captains and we all accepted, even though we had to wait another like thirty years before we were an official captain. Even when we did achieve our rank as captain, Sophie was still a good friend of ours. Although one night, I and she proved we were more than friends._

"Shunny-shun!" Sophie called.

"Yes Soshie?" Kyoraku asked.

They liked to give each other nicknames, in the thirty two years they've know each other some things haven't changed like their relationship, they were always close to each other and didn't spend a day without one another. However some things have changed such as their appearance. Kyoraku's hair is longer touching his shoulders even when it is tied back, he has a slight stubbly beard. Sophie was wearing a lot more make-up making her look older, her wavy hair has grown past her chest and her chest had grown ALOT. She definitely caught up in those years. They were in Kyoraku's house sitting down having some tea around a table, he's taken off his captains' coat and took off his top leaving his hairy chest on show.

"It's soooo hot! I wish I could take my top off like the guys but without getting a strange look from everyone." She said.

"It's just me here." He winked.

"Yeah, 'spose it's alright if I just untie it a little bit." She said.

He didn't really expect her to do that but she did, she just untied it and it opened up, revealing some of her breasts, it covered up her nipples but most of it was on show. She looks down making sure she's covered up and ties it up a bit looser so it covers her up but doesn't cling to her skin making her very hot. Even though it wasn't the first time he'd seen most of her breasts he still couldn't help but stare.

"Nice..." He said, under his breath.

"Where's your fan? I'm boiling!" She asked.

He quickly darted his eyes away and crawled around the table kneeling next to her. He leaned over to her started to blow on her neck.

"HAHA, that feels weird!" She laughed.

He continued to blow on her neck, cooling her down. She closed her eyes and put her head back. He then kissed her neck instead, she opened her eyes and tilted her head back forward and turned to face him. She looked at his eyes then his lips, the truth was... He fancied her for a very long time and she fancied him, but they thought the other thought of them being just good friends. He leaned in closer to her with his eyes closed and kissed her plumped lips; she didn't resist and closed her eyes, kissing him back. She fell back on the floor, lying on her back with him kissing her on top of her, he slipped his tongue in her mouth and she returned the favour. He untied her top and slipped it off her; he then pulled down her trousers and knickers. She covered her breasts with one arm and with the other placed it between her legs to cover herself. He pulled down his trousers then he realised that she was covering herself.

"Don't be embarrassed..." He said, softly.

"Sorry... That I'm not... More attractive..." She said, quietly.

Under her loud, bubbly, feisty personality was any normal scared girl. Scared of not being good enough, she was generally upset she wasn't more 'good looking'.

"You're perfect..." He replied.

He pressed his chest against hers and kissed her neck. She could feel his hardness stroking against her thighs.

"This is my first time..." She whispered.

"I'll be gentle..." He whispered.

Although she was somehow very wet, it was still incredibly tight. He noticed she was gritting her teeth as he slowly went inside her. Her eyes filled with tears as he went deeper, he stopped moving.

"Shall I stop?" He asked.

"...Yes please..." She whispered, tears trickling down her cheeks.

He slowly pulled himself out and could hear her breath with relief. He rolled over and she crossed her legs trying to numb the pain.

"I think I'm bleeding..." She said, quietly.

She stood up and rushed into the bathroom. As she closed the door, he stood up and went into his bedroom, even though he still had an erection and brought out two pillows and a blanket. He put the pillows on the floor next to each other and laid down resting his arm on it with his head on his hand, he put the blanket on him covering him up. She came back out fiddling with her fingers.

"Come here..." He said.

She walked over to him and sat down. She lied down and rested her head on the pillow and he covered her up with the blanket, he rested his head on the pillow and faced her, both lying on their sides. Their noses were just centimetres from touching. He pushed the hair out of her face and put his arm on her waist, she placed her hand on his upper arm, she moved closer to hug him but could feel him poking her leg, and she jumped back a bit. She had a little laugh and he smiled.

"Just ignore it; it'll go away hopefully..." He smiled.

"Soshie..."

"Yes Shunny-shun?" She asked.

"I love you..."

"I love you too..." She replied.

_Ten months later our relationship was doing well, we had our occasional arguments like any other normal couple, and like I said before she wasn't too fussed when I still flirted with the other girls even though I did tone that down a lot. But our last month together... Every night she would have a nightmare, screaming in her sleep and kicking and punching and crying. I'd wake up and I would have to wake her up from her nightmare. I had to grab her and shake her to wake her up; she would go into the living room and stay awake all night if I would accidentally fall back asleep in bed. She would tell me that she dreamed of her zanpakuto's spirit was telling her things that were evil. We went to see Retsu who couldn't find anything wrong so we didn't think too much about it. Two days before our first year together she broke up with me, her reason being she was 'bored' with the same stuff we did. But just over a week later she was put in jail for accidentally killing some people. Three days later she broke out, after murdering many people me and Ukitake attempted to stop her and take her back to prison to remove her soul chain, even though our order was to kill her._

In the squad 8 barracks, Sophie is standing opposite Kyoraku and Ukitake. Surrounding her is dozens of fresh corpses, her eyes are a light purple and there's a dark purple aura around her. They both draw out their zanpakuto's, stancing, preparing to fight.

"Sophie! Stop, come back to jail and they won't execute you! We can help you! If you stay here they WILL kill you!" Ukitake shouted.

"Hahahhaaaa!" She laughed in an evil and creepy way.

She continued.

"You could have stopped this... If you sorted this out when she had those dreams of me poisoning her mind she would be fine and wouldn't have to kill everyone." She smirked.

She took a step forward, they felt the strangest and strongest spiritual pressure, it was so bad that they both instantly drop down to the floor almost dead. She noticed them struggling to breathe.

"Still alive? My... Everyone died as soon as they enter my spiritual death aura, maybe it's because you're captains and your spiritual pressure is high... No matter, surely this blade piercing your heart will kill you." She grinned.

She walked over to them and placed one leg over Kyoraku's body, her legs spread apart around him, she lifted up her blade about to stab him with a big grin. He braces himself to be stabbed but to his surprise she doesn't. He looks at her face and her evil smile has dropped and her face showed pain, he looks at her chest and sees a blade through her heart, blood dripping from her body onto his clothes. The deathly aura around her stops and as the blade is pulled from her chest she collapses to the floor lying next to Kyoraku, her eyes return to her natural brown, filling with tears. He watched her last remaining seconds.

"...Sorry..." She whispered.

He tried to reach out to her with his hand but her body glowed a light blue and she completely disappeared into reishi. Standing by the men, wiping Sophie's blood of his blade was Yamamoto.

Back in the present day, Mayuri is listening to Kyoraku tell him this tale.

"So I then realised she split up with me to protect me. If I were still dating her just days after we split up, I would've been killed by her spiritual pressure..." Kyoraku said, finishing his story.

He told Mayuri everything, except for when they had sex. It was far too soon to tell Mayuri anything like that.

"She sounds exactly like Lilly..." Mayuri said, quietly.

"Yeah... She was pretty much the same; the only difference was her hair style." Kyoraku said.

"Wait a second! That means you had feelings for Lilly." Mayuri hissed.

"Nope, I had over three hundred years to get over mine and Sophie's relationship and her death. It sounds harsh but I did. I saw Lilly more like a daughter or a niece, she told me she looked up to me as a father figure 'cos she never had a good role model..." Kyoraku replied.

Mayuri tutted and rolled his eyes, he started smoking again.

"Taking up smoking ehh... Real smooth..." Kyoraku said, sarcastically.

"Ehh... Lilly didn't like smoking, she said people can do what ever they want but she refuses to touch the poison herself." Mayuri replied, looking at his cigarette.

"So why you smoking it then?" Kyoraku asked.

Mayuri's eyes widened and instantly put it in the ash tray, he picked up the packet of cigarettes and attempted to throw it in the bin, and he managed to successfully throw it into the bin.

"Hmm... You're right... For once... I'm going to stop that, not the booze though she liked a good drink herself." Mayuri smiled.

"Good, don't worry I like a drink myself." Kyoraku grinned.

"In the letter she gave me... She asked me to do two things, to take Nanao to the 'Golden Palace' in place of you and Lilly." Kyoraku said.

"Tsk... What was the other thing?" Mayuri tutted.

"... She wants me to go visit her moth-. I mean Rose. I got permission from Yamamoto to leave for the world of the living and changed the co-ordinations to her area. I'm going in four days time." Kyoraku replied.

He stood up and made his way to the exit.

"That's all the letter says, well I'll see you later." He said.

He opened the door and before his hand could even touch the handle to close the door he was interrupted.

"Wait... Could... I uhh..." Mayuri struggling to say what he wanted.

"Yes of course you can join me to see Rose. Already got permission for you from old man Yama." Kyoraku interrupted.

Mayuri nodded and rolled his eyes, Kyoraku just simply smiled and left


	4. Chapter 4

"This is the address... Remember she might have moved house, if she has we'll just have to hope we see her walking around." Kyoraku said.

Mayuri just rolled his eyes like he didn't really care. They were both in the world of the living, to be precise in England. Lilly was right, she did come from a really rough area. Although it was in the middle of the day the weather was really bad, it looked like it was going to rain any second with the dark grey clouds gathering around, blocking out the sun. The streets were dark and dirty, rubbish in the streets and the cars were as bad as the houses, all the windows smashed and the doors dent. There were a bunch of young men wearing hoodies, covering their faces all watching Mayuri and Kyoraku. Those two definitely did not fit in well with the area, as they were both wearing gigais they thought they should wear what British people wear... Suits... Posh, expensive looking suits. Kyoraku didn't have his crazy hat on, his blazer was light grey with thin dark grey stripes going down and he wore matching trousers. He wore a white shirt and a light pink tie to add some colour. He wore smart black shoes and his long dark hair tied back. Mayuri who was the one who created both of their gigais so he could create his appearance anyway he wanted, but he kept his appearance the same as his natural look. He kept his honey eyes and dark blue hair as well as his dark skin; the only thing that wasn't his natural look was that he had ears. He wore a plain black suit and a white shirt with a dark purple tie; he had black matching shoes the same as Kyoraku's. They both looked incredibly smart and stood out in the rough streets.

"This dump is where she lived for fourteen years? She definitely was better off living on the streets!" Mayuri hissed.

"Shush, we have to be polite if we wanna' know what her life was like here." Kyoraku replied.

"She pretty much told us it was shit..." Mayuri said, shrugging his shoulders.

They walked past a waist high wall which was crumbling and moulding, at the end of the wall was a dark grey wooden gate which was hanging of the hinge. They walk in through the broken gate, standing on a small patch of yellow long grass covered in rubbish. They look up at the house to see a small worn down building, the bricks were decomposing and the upstairs double window was smashed, there was a bit of cardboard covering up the hole. Kyoraku knocks on the white, dirty, worn out door.

"Say... Is that your normal look under that paint? You look familiar..." Kyoraku asked.

"You'll never know for definite..." Mayuri grinned.

_Yes that's what he normally looks like. He was hoping that i'd think he wouldn't have his gigai look like his normal self so he thought he'd wear his normal look... Strange seeing him with... Ears... He looks just like the guy leaving Lilly's house when me, Jushiro, Nanao and Rukia went to visit her..._

The door opened revealing an old woman, her hair was dirty, blonde and messy like she hadn't washed or brushed it for weeks. She wore a lot of make-up, her face was very orange and she wore a lot of eyeliner which was smudged. Her eyes although we're very small, she had the same colour eyes as Lilly. She had big, purple bags under her eyes. She was wearing a long pink dressing gown even though it was in the middle of the day and pink fluffy slippers. She was smoking and acted like she was drunk and appeared like she had taken drugs.

"Whaddya' want?" She asked, rubbing her nose.

Mayuri gave the woman a cold look, he really didn't like the look of her, and in fact he HATED her. Then again Mayuri hates 99% of the people he meets and knows. Kyoraku could see Mayuri's lip snarl slightly so he thought he'd say something before Mayuri opened his mouth.

"Yes hello, is your name Rose Hayter?" Kyoraku asked.

"Please honey... I haven't been called Hayter for over eleven years." She replied.

"So... Your daughter is Lilly correct?"

"... Yes... What of it?" She said, crossing her arms.

She was getting slightly annoyed; she obviously didn't like Lilly much or want to talk about her.

"Could we perhaps come in? We have something to tell you..." Kyoraku asked.

She paused for a few seconds; she nodded and let them in. They both walked in and the smell of dirt and urine stung their noses. They stood in what appeared to be her living room; there was a brown, worn out sofa with a matching single chair to the left of the sofa. There was an old TV in the corner of the room. In the middle of the room is a glass table which is covered in dirt and fingerprints. Mayuri sat on the single chair with his leg crossed on top of his knee, his hands on the arms of the chair, whilst Kyoraku sat on the end of the sofa closest to Mayuri, sitting slightly towards Rose with his arm on the back of the sofa and his other hand resting on his lap. Rose shut the door and sat on the end of the sofa leaving the middle seat empty; she crossed her legs and leaned her elbow on the arm of the sofa with her head resting on her arm with a cigarette in her other hand.

"So what has the bitch done now?" She asked, smoking.

"It's nothing like that... We've been working and living with Lilly for the past few months." Kyoraku replied, stunned she could say something like that.

"Oh so she's with you? Where do you live then 'cos she needs to go to jail!" She snapped.

Mayuri's lip snarled again, he was going to say something he shouldn't so Kyoraku interrupted his thoughts and ignored what Rose just said.

"The truth is, we're here to find out more about her. Could you tell us why she ran away, what she was like? Where bouts her father is? If you could answer our questions we'd be grateful and we could perhaps explain why we're here much clearer." Kyoraku asked.

She rolled her eyes smoking her cigarette and picking up her alcoholic drink from the table. She didn't offer the men anything to drink, not that they wanted a drink from her anyway.

"Do you know what it's like to be a woman whose new husband wouldn't touch her?" She asked.

The men just looked at her, waiting for her excuse as a useless mother.

"It's an awful feeling; all men are like that... See a younger girl who's showing off their body makes the men act like dogs. My new husband for a whole two days got bored and saw that slut of a daughter showing off her figure whilst she was having a shower, so like what most men would've done in his place had sex with her. Do you know how crappy that made me feel? He was more attracted to his step-daughter than his new wife!" She snapped.

She was genuinely upset, upset that her husband raped her fourteen year old daughter. They both didn't feel sorry for her, they both wanted to kill her themselves, no wonder why Lilly ran away.

"So you're upset that your husband raped your daughter?" Mayuri asked, snarling.

He was tapping his finger on the arm of the chair, and his foot was shaking. He literally wanted to kill her. Kyoraku felt the same but had to stay calm, Lilly had asked him to go find out about her past so he would understand where she grew up.

"That what she told you? Ha attention seeking cow..." She replied.

Mayuri began gritting his teeth, his lip snarling revealing his teeth.

"The cow ran away that night when she told me that 'he raped her'. Good riddance that girl was always moaning about something, and her school never stopped complaining about her. 'Lilly hit this girl, Lilly hit that girl, Lilly didn't come into school today, we caught Lilly bunking'. It's SO annoying I was relieved when she left. I didn't even tell the police that she ran off, it was only because the school was 'concerned' that they contacted the police. She ran away just like what her poxy dad did over ten years ago... So c'mon I've answered all your bloody questions, if there's nothing else i'd like it if you left now." She said, coldly.

"I'm going to enjoy seeing your reaction when I tell you the following facts." Mayuri snarled.

"Don't you dare..." Kyoraku snapped.

"Your daughter Lilly. She's dead." Mayuri said, casually.

"What!" Rose gasped.

"Mayuri..." Kyoraku said, sternly.

"Those who kill should be killed..." Rose replied, coldly.

Mayuri gritted his teeth and stood up; he walked over to Rose and stood in front of her.

"Yes, she was tortured for ten days and died just one day after her eighteenth birthday. Sad enough having a long and painful death, but here's another thing to get your head around. She was pregnant with MY CHILD! AND YOU SIT HERE AND YOU SHOW NO FEELINGS OF LOVE TOWARDS YOUR OWN CHILD... Its people like you that there is a reason why hell exists... If I were alone, so no one would hold me back... I would make sure that you suffered exactly how she did just over a week ago..." Mayuri shouted.

He was bending over her with his face touching hers shouting at her. He was extremely angry and at any second he was going to kill her. Mayuri didn't realise he was being a hypocrite, he's not exactly parent of the year himself.

"... What a slut..." She replied, coldly.

She tried to push his skinny framed body away from her but he quickly dug his nails into her shoulders. Kyoraku stood up and tried to pull Mayuri off, as he pulled him up Mayuri also pulled Rose up. Her shoulders started bleeding. Kyoraku stood up behind Mayuri, still grabbing on to him hoping he would let go of her.

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE!" She screamed.

"Rose..." Kyoraku said softly.

"I hope you burn in hell..." He said in a dark manner.

Mayuri was breathing really hard through his nostrils. He was filled with anger and pulled his nails out from her skin, her shoulders started bleeding quite badly even though she was wearing a thick dressing gown. He then punched her in the face and she landed on the sofa, she is unconscious on the sofa and Mayuri lunges to attack but Kyoraku locks Mayuri's arm with his own arms and drags him to the door whilst Mayuri is kicking his legs to attack her. Kyoraku kicks the door down and pushes Mayuri outside; just as he regains his balance Kyoraku pushes him out the gate and down the street, past the gang of boys. At the end of the run down street was a similar crumbling wall so Kyoraku grabbed Mayuri and forced him to sit on the wall, still gripping his blazer and leaning over to Mayuri's height, he was so close to Mayuri's face that they were almost touching.

"You need to calm the hell down!" Kyoraku shouted.

"...I'm going to kill that bitch..." Mayuri said, quietly.

Kyoraku then looked at him in his eyes; he could see them beginning to fill with tears. He let go of him and sat next to him, he noticed the group of boys left the area and couldn't see them anywhere. It was just the two of them in the filthy, empty street.

"...Why... Why did she leave?" Mayuri asked.

He gritted his teeth and clenched his hands into a fist; he looked down hiding his face from Kyoraku. Kyoraku sat quietly in hope that Mayuri was going to open up his feelings.

"She was here one minute... Gone the next... I should've protected her..." Mayuri said, quietly.

"You shouldn't feel guilty... There was nothing you could've done." Kyoraku replied.

"THERE WERE UNARMED SOULS!" Mayuri shouted.

"I've been a soul reaper for over one hundred years and you would've thought I could've killed four measly souls. I couldn't protect her... I couldn't even protect my own unborn child. I promised her I was going to be a good father and would always love her..." He said, gripping his hair.

His tears trickled down his cheeks, he tried his hardest to hide his face from Kyoraku so he wouldn't see him cry but Kyoraku witnessed something he never thought he would. Mayuri Kurotsuchi crying. Mayuri hid in face in his hands.

"It's the little things I miss..." Mayuri said, in his hands.

He lifted his head up, still not facing Kyoraku although he could feel his eyes staring at him. Right now he didn't care he was ruining his pride, crying was the one thing a soul reaper should never do. To them, showing emotion is a sign of weakness, but right now Mayuri just wanted someone to hear him. He continued talking.

"I miss the way she would... Laugh at me insulting people. The way she would smile every time i'd come home from work. How she kissed me. Her beautiful eyes. I miss even when she'd get angry, shouting and storming off; I always thought she was just as cute as when she smiles. I liked how she was quite feisty and we found the same things funny..." He said with a small smile, remembering all the happy times they shared.

"... I miss waking up every morning seeing her asleep so peacefully... I just want her back... I'd do anything to have her back... I would die for her... I would bare the pain she suffered before she died, just so she could come back to me... I feel useless, like nothing else matters... I thought my purpose as a soul was to experiment and research, but I realised my true purpose was to share my life with her... And now... There's nothing..." He said, quietly.

He was crying even more, he wiped his eyes hoping Kyoraku didn't see him crying.

"...You know... Lilly once told me its fine to cry... I quote; 'Crying isn't a sign of weakness. It's a sign that you've stayed strong for so long'. You've stayed strong for her for a long time, the whole time she was captured you stayed strong for her to bring her back. So I envy you for staying strong this whole time." Kyoraku said, placing his hand on Mayuri's shoulder.

Mayuri nodded, still not looking at him. He wiped his cheeks and eyes dry, Kyoraku pulled his hand away and started searching in his pockets. Mayuri looked in the corner of his eyes, watching to see what he was doing. He then pulled out an envelope and put it in front of Mayuri's eyes. It had Mayuri's name written upon it, he looked at Kyoraku then back the letter and gently took it off him, and his hands were shaking slightly.

"Remember at the funeral when Retsu said she wanted to talk to me? When I went to go see her she, told me that Lilly did leave you a letter. However there was a condition for you to receive it. You had to open up your true emotions; it's not good to bottle things up so Lilly asked Retsu to tell me. Retsu gave me the letter and I had to wait 'til you revealed your true emotions." Kyoraku explained.

Mayuri just nodded. He was too stunned to say anything. He stared at the envelope, and then opened it and Kyoraku stood up.

"I'm going to walk around for a while so you can read the letter in peace." Kyoraku said.

"I don't mind you staying..." Mayuri replied, quietly.

_He wants me to stay... Maybe he just doesn't want to be alone._

He sat back down next to him; he didn't stare at the letter trying to figure out what it said. He didn't want to annoy Mayuri and it could have something personal written just for him. To his surprise Mayuri started reading it out loud.

"To Mayuri, I'm pleased to know that you have opened up your emotions to someone. It's not good to bottle up your feelings, as I know from experience. I know you don't like people telling you to do things but could I ask for a small favour? I want you to find a girl, who will laugh at your jokes, enjoy your strange hobbies and loves you for your amazing personality as much as I do. I want you to fall in love with her and I want you to take her to posh restaurants, treat her like a princess, marry her and raise a family with her. I want you to be happy. Not really a small favour but hey, it would mean ever so much to me. But I want you to know that I will always love you. Lots of love, Lilly. P.S. Please cut Nemu some slack, she's a lovely girl." Mayuri read, his eyes filling up again.

_My eyes are stinging slightly, it's not my place to cry, and Mayuri should be the one crying not me._

Kyoraku rubbed his eyes, whilst Mayuri continued to stare at the letter.

"I ain't ever going to find anyone like you Lilly..." Mayuri whispered.

Kyoraku heard what he had said, so he stood up and Mayuri looked up at him.

"C'mon, let's go back to the soul society." Kyoraku said.

Mayuri nodded and stood up, they both began walking, looking for a suitable place to return to the soul society. Kyoraku couldn't help but see a younger version of himself in Mayuri. When Sophie passed away he reacted just like Mayuri... He showed no emotion, took up excessive drinking, even smoking for a little while and turned his full attention back to the ladies. Although Kyoraku shared his feelings with his best friend Ukitake, he couldn't help but envy Mayuri... Under his creepy, scary, monster-like appearance and personality. He was still human... A human who fell in love, who's heart has been broken and has been struggling to come to terms with the death of a loved one like any normal human. He was jealous that someone like Mayuri could actually open up his emotions, that took some real guts for him to do that. He knew Mayuri had a long and painful journey, but he was going to get through it... Just like how Shunsui Kyoraku did...

**Yes that's the end. I didn't want to make a long story, this was just meant to help explain what Lilly's relationship was like with Kyoraku. That's why this short story was mainly about Kyoraku and Sophie/Lilly. I couldn't really leave Mayuri out of the story but I didn't want to focus on him. I wanted to include Lilly's life before the soul society for a reason. You may find it sad or disgusting or disturbing but I wanted to explain that this sort of thing does happen. Every single child's worst nightmares all came true for her, not only did her dad leave her at a young age which that alone would stress out a child, but she was also raped by her step dad and her mum doesn't love her. So I wanted to... Prove that these things do happen to children everyday! On that note I would like to say I hope you enjoyed my story/stories. Oh and I doubt I'm going to make a sequel with anything to do with Lilly. (Unless someone gives me an incredible good idea).**


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